Novel enhanced stick protection system

ABSTRACT

Multiple embodiments feature active stick surface guarding, more or less bonded to a sole mechanism, using state of the art plastics and manufacturing techniques to offer for consideration better ways to preserve hockey sticks longer, for more efficient and sustainable use. Analytics-supporting versions feature chip sets and apps, interfacing with state of the art gamification and studies.

BACKGROUND

The present inventions relate to hockey stick protectors. Particularly, the present inventions improve upon known systems to protect active surfaces of sticks, preferably used for hockey.

OBJECTS & SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONS

Briefly stated, multiple embodiments feature active stick surface guarding, more or less bonded to a sole mechanism, using state of the art plastics and manufacturing techniques to offer for consideration better ways to preserve hockey sticks longer, for more efficient and sustainable use. Analytics-supporting versions feature chip sets and apps, interfacing with state of the art gamification and studies.

According to embodiments, there is provided a novel enhanced stick protection system, comprising, in combination: at least a polymer sheet having an adhesive layer for sticking to a blade; and, a sole member having a partial circumferential barrier position of a surface centered upon a playing surface of a ventral part of said stick; wherein said stick protection is removeable, at least in part, and sustainable/recyclable at least in part.

According to embodiments, there is provided systems of claims herein, available to customize, order and pay for on a website or DAO (decentralized automated organization).

According to embodiments, there is provided processes for making blade and stick protector units modular and conjoined, or separate.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTIONS

The present inventors have discovered better ways to protect stick blade surfaces than the prior art. By offering a modular system, both blade sides/faces may be protected along with sole, dorsal surface and anywhere desired.

Expressly incorporated by reference are U.S. Pat. Nos. 8,905,973; D781975; 6,926,629; 6,989,186; 6,273,835; 7,070,522; 5,676,608; 6,612,944; and, PCT/SK2018/000005; and publication US2021/146209.

Artisans understand that hockey stick blades wear down and are broken often.

Therefore, the present inventors offer for consideration new ways to make sticks last longer. In this case, barriers to entry for those in need may be lowered, such that sticks will be able to be afforded by all. Also professional or statistics-using groups are served by analytics.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

Referring now to FIG. 1 , artisans understand that by combining for example, a thin polymer sheet with inside adhesives, a stick blade may offer a protected surface (hatch marks) on either side of the blade. This non-stick surface may be optionally bonded to any plastic or rubber, for example, or polypropylene surface on the other side, as needed. Both replaceable and permanent options exist.

Artisans also understand use of chips, sensors and the like to enable the present invention to be used for hockey analytics. Likewise, both point of purchase, internet and other subscription and other synthetic economy based merchant exchange system are contemplated. For example, including Blockchain and NFT exchanges, and cryptocurrency. Also, see Appendix, to U.S. Ser. No. 63/342,579 (May 16, 2022) showing the state of the art in hockey analytics as contemplated to be emplaced within and tran sitting from the instant system as disclosed and claim in terms of sensors, inter alia, as defined to be special and general purpose computing machines, see penultimate specification pages before the claims.

It is noted that no prior art system combined both blade and sole protection.

Referring now to FIG. 2 , an exemplary damaged stick is shown. Both the bottom surface (sole) and stick blades may be covered. These additions show the space between sole and top, or dorsal, edge of stick, which may be covered. Each system may be designed or put together to solve the problem of wearing down the stick. Here, with two instant products applied, the sticks can be re-used/re-purposed and used again. Those skilled in the art understand that this type of injury to blades is a prime target for the present invention. Less hockey sticks, less money, more can play, for cheaper.

FIG. 3 shows a sole shielding member used with a stick according to the present invention. Those skilled in the appreciate that being a partial circumferential barrier position located sole or residuum covering tool includes needed attachment or adhesion being any functioning conjoining means allowing said tool to be affixed permanently or temporarily to protect a stick bottom.

Corresponding reference characters indicate corresponding components throughout the several views of the drawings. Skilled artisans will appreciate that elements in the figures are illustrated for simplicity and clarity and have not necessarily been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of some of the elements in the figures may be exaggerated relative to other elements to help to improve understanding of various embodiments of the present invention. Also, common but well-understood elements that are useful or necessary in a commercially feasible embodiment are often not depicted in order to facilitate a less obstructed view of these various embodiments of the present invention.

While several embodiments of the present disclosure have been described and illustrated herein, those of ordinary skill in the art will readily envision a variety of other means and/or structures for performing the functions and/or obtaining the results and/or one or more of the advantages described herein, and each of such variations and/or modifications is deemed to be within the scope of the present disclosure.

More generally, those skilled in the art will readily appreciate that all parameters, dimensions, materials, and configurations described herein are meant to be exemplary, and that the actual parameters, dimensions, materials, and/or configurations will depend upon the specific application or applications for which the teachings of the present disclosure is/are used.

Those skilled in the art will recognize or be able to ascertain using no more than routine experimentation, many equivalents to the specific embodiments of the disclosure described herein. It is, therefore, to be understood that the foregoing embodiments are presented by way of example only and that, within the scope of the appended claims and equivalents thereto, the disclosure may be practiced otherwise than as specifically described and claimed. The present disclosure is directed to each individual feature, system, article, material, kit, and/or method described herein. In addition, any combination of two or more such features, systems, articles, materials, kits, and/or methods, if such features, systems, articles, materials, kits, and/or methods are not mutually inconsistent, is included within the scope of the present disclosure.

All definitions, as defined and used herein, should be understood to control over dictionary definitions, definitions in documents incorporated by reference, and/or ordinary meanings of the defined terms.

The indefinite articles “a” and “an,” as used herein in the specification and in the claims, unless clearly indicated to the contrary, should be understood to mean “at least one.” The phrase “and/or,” as used herein in the specification and in the claims, should be understood to mean “either or both” of the elements so conjoined, i.e., elements that are conjunctively present in some cases and disjunctively present in other cases. Other elements may optionally be present other than the elements specifically identified by the “and/or” clause, whether related or unrelated to those elements specifically identified, unless clearly indicated to the contrary.

Reference throughout this specification to “one embodiment” or “an embodiment,” means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment. Thus, appearances of the phrases “in one embodiment”, or “in an embodiment” in various places throughout this specification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment. Furthermore, the particular features, structures, or characteristics may be combined in any suitable manner in one or more embodiments.

The terms and expressions which have been employed herein are used as terms of description and not of limitation, and there is no intention, in the use of such terms and expressions, of excluding any equivalents of the features shown and described (or portions thereof), and it is recognized that various modifications are possible within the scope of the claims. Accordingly, the claims are intended to cover all such equivalents.

Reference throughout this specification to “one embodiment,” “an embodiment,” or similar language means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment of the present invention. Thus, appearances of the phrases “in one embodiment,” “in an embodiment,” and similar throughout this specification may, but do not necessarily, all refer to the same embodiment.

Furthermore, the described features, structures, or characteristics of the invention may be combined in any suitable manner in one or more embodiments. In the following description, numerous specific details are provided to provide a thorough understanding of embodiments of the invention. One skilled in the relevant art will recognize, however, that the invention may be practiced without one or more of the specific details, or with other methods, components, materials, and so forth. In other instances, well-known structures, materials, and so forth. In other instances, well-known structures, materials, or operations are not shown or described in detail to avoid obscuring aspects of the invention.

Unless otherwise indicated, all numbers expressing quantities of ingredients, properties such as molecular weight, reaction conditions, and so forth used in the specification and claims are to be understood as being modified in all instances by the term “about.” Accordingly, unless indicated to the contrary, the numerical parameters set forth in the specification and attached claims are approximations that may vary depending upon the desired properties sought to be obtained by the present invention. At the very least, and not as an attempt to limit the application of the doctrine of equivalents to the scope of the claims, each numerical parameter should at least be construed in light of the number of reported significant digits and by applying ordinary rounding techniques. Notwithstanding that the numerical ranges and parameters setting forth the broad scope of the invention are approximations, the numerical values set forth in the specific examples are reported as precisely as possible. Any numerical value, however, inherently contains certain errors necessarily resulting from the standard deviation found in their respective testing measurements.

The terms “a,” “an,” “the” and similar referents used in the context of describing the invention (especially in the context of the following claims) are to be construed to cover both the singular and the plural, unless otherwise indicated herein or clearly contradicted by context. Recitation of ranges of values herein is merely intended to serve as a shorthand method of referring individually to each separate value falling within the range. Unless otherwise indicated herein, each individual value is incorporated into the specification as if it were individually recited herein. All methods described herein can be performed in any suitable order unless otherwise indicated herein or otherwise clearly contradicted by context. The use of any and all examples, or exemplary language (e.g., “such as”) provided herein is intended merely to better illuminate the invention, and does not pose a limitation on the scope of the invention otherwise claimed. No language in the specification should be construed as indicating any non-claimed element essential to the practice of the invention.

Groupings of alternative elements or embodiments of the invention disclosed herein are not to be construed as limitations. Each group member may be referred to and claimed individually or in any combination with other members of the group or other elements found herein. It is anticipated that one or more members of a group may be included in, or deleted from, a group for reasons of convenience and/or patentability. When any such inclusion or deletion occurs, the specification is deemed to contain the group as modified thus fulfilling the written description of all groups used in the appended claims.

Certain embodiments of this invention are described herein, including the best mode known to the inventors for carrying out the invention. Of course, variations on these described embodiments will become apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art upon reading the foregoing description. The inventor expects skilled artisans to employ such variations as appropriate, and the inventors intend for the invention to be practiced otherwise than specifically described herein. Accordingly, this invention includes all modifications and equivalents of the subject matter recited in the claims appended hereto as permitted by applicable law. Moreover, any combination of the above-described elements in all possible variations thereof is encompassed by the invention unless otherwise indicated herein or otherwise clearly contradicted by context.

As one skilled in the art would recognize as necessary or best-suited for performance of the methods of the invention, a computer system or machines of the invention include one or more processors (e.g., a central processing unit (CPU) a graphics processing unit (GPU) or both), a main memory and a static memory, which communicate with each other via a bus.

A processor may be provided by one or more processors including, for example, one or more of a single core or multi-core processor (e.g., AMD Phenom II X2, Intel Core Duo, AMD Phenom II X4, Intel Core i5, Intel Core I & Extreme Edition 980X, or Intel Xeon E7-2820).

An I/O interface may include a video display unit (e.g., a liquid crystal display (LCD) or a cathode ray tube (CRT)), an alphanumeric input device (e.g., a keyboard), a cursor control device (e.g., a mouse), a disk drive unit, a signal generation device (e.g., a speaker), an accelerometer, a microphone, a cellular radio frequency antennae, and a network interface device (e.g., a network interface card (NIC), Wi-Fi card, cellular modem, data jack, Ethernet port, modem Jack, HDMI port, mini-HDMI port, USB port), touchscreen (e.g., CRT, LCD, LED, AMOLED, Super AMOLED), pointing device, trackpad light (e.g., LED), light/image projection device, or a combination thereof.

Memory according to the invention refers to a non-transitory memory, which is provided by one or more tangible devices which preferably include one or more machine readable medium on which is stored one or more sets of instructions (e.g., software) embodying any one or more of the methodologies or functions described herein. The software may also reside, completely or at least partially, within the main memory processor, or both during execution thereof by a computer within system, the main memory and the processor also constituting machine-readable media. The software may further be transmitted or received over a network via the network interface device.

While the machine-readable medium can in an exemplary embodiment be a single medium, the term “machine-readable medium” should be taken to include a single medium or multiple media (e.g., a centralized or distributed database, and/or associated caches and servers) that store the one or more sets of instructions. The term “machine-readable medium” shall also be taken to include any medium that is capable of storing, encoding or carrying a set of instructions for execution by the machine and that cause the machine to perform any one or more of the methodologies of the present invention. Memory may be, for example, one or more of a hard disk drive, solid state drive (SSD), an optical disc, flash memory, zip disk, tape drive, “cloud” storage location, or a combination thereof. In certain embodiments, a device of the itllvemion includes a tangible, non-transitory computer readable medium for memory. Exemplary devices for use as memory include semiconductor memory devices, (e.g., EPROM, EEPROM, solid state drive (SSD), and flash memory devices, (e.g., SD, micro SD, SDXC, SDIO, SDHC cards); magnetic disks, (e.g., internal hard disks or removable disks); and optical disks (e.g., CD and DVD disks).

In closing, it is to be understood that the embodiments of the invention disclosed herein are illustrative of the principles of the present invention. Other modifications that may be employed are within the scope of the invention. Thus, by way of example, but not of limitation, alternative configurations of the present invention may be utilized in accordance with the teachings herein. Accordingly, the present invention is not limited to that precisely as shown and described. 

1. Novel enhanced stick protection system, comprising, in combination: at least a polymer sheet having an adhesive layer for sticking to a blade; and, a sole member having a partial circumferential barrier position of a surface centered upon a playing surface of a ventral part of said stick; wherein said stick protection is removable, at least in part, and sustainable/recyclable at least in part.
 2. In a system to cover blades of hockey sticks, the improvements, comprising: providing thin polymer sheets with an adhesive for blade surfaces; and, a sole mechanism joined with or independent of the blade covers, made of polypropylene, or the like.
 3. System of claim 2, being disposable and removable or permanent.
 4. System of claim 3, the materials including at least a composite, as opposed to only plastic.
 5. System of claim 4, available to customize, order and pay for on a website or DAO (decentralized automated organization).
 6. System of claim 5, including data sets harvested from onboarded chips, sensors, and related means.
 7. Analytics using data from stick protectors, including both game based and from processes for making blade and stick protector units modular and conjoined, or separate.
 8. Modular systems, as defined herein, further comprising, in combination: at least a blade covering apparatus; a sole and or residuum covering means, being stiffer and of alternate materials; and, the blade covering apparatus and other parts including adhesive, incorporated within said piece of the modular set, or otherwise. 